About

£2,205

pledged of £1,500 goal

124

backers

In Exilium, players take on the roles of Exiles, post-humans who've been kicked out of Elysium, heaven, for a crime they committed. The mysterious Envoy offers a chance of return, but only if they help it hunt Shadows, dangerous post-humans wreaking havoc on the material worlds. As the game progresses players collaboratively discover more about Elysium and the crime they committed, and ultimately earn their redemption.

I'm looking for funding to add fill-colour art and a professional layout to Exilium, which is a re-imagining of theIn Flames science fiction roleplaying game and its two supplements originally available on DriveThruRPG and in hardcopy from Cubicle 7!

A Simial Uplift of the planet Steel

Exilium is a science fiction role-playing game set in a distant future in a solar system known as the Flame system. The Flame system is filled genetically modified humans, robotic Puppets, and uplifted animals of bewildering forms.

Project is in part to fund colouring of existing art

The game centres on a group of seemingly ordinary people that have become possessed by the feeling of being trapped in a body not their own, and haunted by memories of a bizarre and beautiful place. This forms a disconnection to the material world, making these individuals increasingly feel like lost souls. Only the thing calling itself the Envoy offers any explanation. It tells them that they are of the Numina – a race of post humans who inhabit a realm called Elysium, a paradise, majestically isolated from the material universe. The player characters are Exiles - banished for a crime they committed in Elysium.

Players must appease the Envoy to earn the right to return to Elysium. They do this by hunting others of the kind who have become obsessed with the material world - Numina who are termed Shadows.

The Envoy gives Exiles black pills that help to dull the dreams of Elysium. These drugs also allow Shadows to be identified by sight, surrounding the Shadow’s host with a dull red glow that marks them out. If the Exiles perform well, and do all that is asked of them, they might find a way to resolve the guilt of their barely-recalled crimes. If they do, the Envoy can bestow the greatest gift of all – forgiveness, and a return to Elysium.

Welcome to Exilium, the game of redemption set in a post-human world. This game is a re-imagining of a previous game by Fire Ruby Designs, In Flames, an Electrum Best Seller on DrivethrRPG and originally carried by Cubicle 7 games. The game is built around the Open D6 engine.

The game uses a specially lite version of the Open D6 game engine originally published by West End Games for games such as Ghostbusters and Star Wars.

Open D6 is available through the open gaming licence. Everything needed for play is included in the book and for those players wanting more detail, the D6 Space rulebook is available to download for free. Modifications of the system used for Exilium include special rules for Exile characters, Uplifts and body Augmentations.

This version of the game features the contents of the original In Flames rulebook plus the two supplements, Uplifts and Chimera, re-structured into a single book.

The basic themes of the game remain the same, but some of the names have been changed and in response to feedback from players some of the details have been tweaked for ease of play. The three books have also been reorganised into a consistent form.

The game is written and the text is ready to go. The original game featured a cover by Paul Bourne, artist known for his work at Cubicle 7 on the layout of the One Ring RPG, and black and white internal art. Layout was done by myself.

In this new version, I plan to produce a premium version of the game:

The cover will again be by Paul Bourne,

Paul will also do the internal layout.

New full colour art will be acquired to suit the themes of the game, either by colouring the original game art or by acquiring new art.

This is therefore a small project to raise funds to pay for the the art and Paul's layout work. The more money raised, the more full colour art we can fit in the game.

Currently the game is expected to be around 160 pages US letter sized.

All backers will get their names and a thank you in the final Exilium PDF and print book.

We will be using DriveThruRPG for fulfillment.

Backers at both levels will get a 'bare bones' PDF of the game when we fund. This is a no art text file of the complete game - backers will have the opportunity to read through it and spot any mistakes that need correcting from that point.

PDF vouchers will be sent out when the project completes for the final product. Print copies will be produced by DriveThruRPG as well, slightly after the final PDF is produced to allow for proofs to be ordered. Backers who back for print copies will receive a discount voucher to receive a print copy at production price, but they will need to pay the production price and the shipping cost. The production price for the book is expected to be approximately $8 or £6, depending on final page count. Shipping will depend on your location, estimates for common destinations are given below:

We also have a reward tier that includes Summerland in either PDF or print form. These rewards will ship when we fund.

Update!

Backers set to receive print copies will get the option to choose full-colour softback or a deluxe, full-colour glossy hardback! The production costs of the deluxe edition will be significantly higher than stated above, but it is an option for those who want it. Note that the deluxe option is not available to the retail pledge.

Thanks for looking!

Risks and challenges

This is a first Kickstarter for me, but risks are minimal. The text of the game is written. Paul Bourne is on board to do the cover art (a modification of the In Flames cover) and the layout of the book. Art will depend somewhat upon the availability of freelancers, but that has been factored into the schedule. Delivery of PDF and print vouchers which will be performed through Drivethru RPG who have a proven record with Kickstarter.

Short of me getting run over by a bus tomorrow, this is a pretty low risk project.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £20 or more
About $26

Print and PDF of Exilium

You'll get the following. Final PDF and Print copies will be fulfilled by DriveThruRPG. For the print copies be aware you'll need to pay production and shipping costs (see fulfillment section for details).

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £30 or more
About $39

Print copies of the game and Summerland

You'll get the following. Final PDF and Print copies will be fulfilled by DriveThruRPG. For the print copies be aware you'll need to pay production and shipping costs (see fulfillment section for details).